Read the transcript from the online Q&A event, 'Inside the Global MBA'. Dr Manto Gotsi answers the most common questions about the course, such as who it is for, career progression, and entry requirements.
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[MUSIC PLAYING] MANTO GOTSI: I guess one of the key features of the program, which I think we're doing particularly well, is that it offers this kind of ultimate flexibility. Right? The people that come on the program, it's very interesting. When I first took on this role, I thought it would be 100% international, outside the UK, and we wouldn't have any people from the UK. But what I've actually found is that we've got a student base here in the UK-- at the moment they are about a quarter of our students are in the UK, based in the UK. But they're in roles where they have so much traveling.
They might be busy. They might be traveling within the UK, outside the UK, managing clients, and therefore, they do not have the time to actually commit even for a weekend or an evening MBA. And I think the fact that we offer this ultimate flexibility, where people can actually do everything online, if they want, apart from the two weeks that we have in campus. Or at some point during their MBA, they might say, hey, I'd actually like to go and do an elective in Dubai, or I would like to experience the campus.
I want to come to London, come to base, and do an elective within base. I think this kind of ultimate flexibility that people can construct their own program with very little or more physical interaction, in terms of on campus experience. And I think it's because we have quite a diverse student base.
From an industry point of view, I wouldn't be able to actually specify industries. We've got people working in very different industries, loads of different countries. I think the profiles are typically around whether they are entrepreneurs or want to be entrepreneurs or whether they are in the corporate world and also their aspirations.
So what we found is that our typical students are either experienced managers who actually want to climb the corporate ladder, either within their own organization, perhaps, they want the board position within their organization or perhaps in a competing firm. Or maybe they want to change industries. So they're using the MBA as a way to actually get the knowledge, get the skills, build the networks, meet up with professionals within a new industry and make the move.
I think a second typical profile is entrepreneurs. We've got quite a few entrepreneurs on the program, and I've been interviewing this week for our March intake. And I've interviewed quite a few entrepreneurs now, people that have sometimes gone through a nontraditional route.
Sometimes, maybe, they haven't been to university education, but they've put all their efforts in terms of building their own company. And they're reaching a stage now in their venture where, perhaps, they want to grow the venture through acquisition. Perhaps, they actually want to diversify. They may want to go into different markets.
Maybe they want to grow their team, and they want to basically build knowledge around different skills. It could be strategy skills, be skills around their business, could be merger and acquisition skills. So typical profiles are experienced managers, entrepreneurs, and there's a third profile, from my experience so far, and this is people who are experienced managers in the corporate world.
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It's quite interesting. Right? In terms of the entry requirements, I think it's reflected in the people that I end up interviewing. So a very traditional kind of entry requirement route is where a candidate typically holds a good first degree. Usually or ideally of 2, 1 or equivalent standing, or it could be an equivalent professional qualification.
Typically, we say that, if a candidate doesn't have either of these, then perhaps a business experience is the alternative. A minimum of six years of relevant business experience is something that we typically require, for someone that does not have a good first degree. We ask for a minimum of five years of relevant full-time working experience gained after graduation, but there is some leeway, some flexibility. So it could be less, providing there is some kind of evidence that there are other key areas of strength, and there's evidence in the application to showcase that.
In terms of English, obviously, if English is not the applicant's first language, then we ask for a minimum I think well-balanced IELTS score of 7 or an equivalent in TOEFL, et cetera. Obviously, if the applicant has actually worked or studies in an English-speaking country for more than a year, then we waive this requirement. We do not ask our global MBA students to take a GMAT.
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In simple terms, what you get is you develop your skills, in terms of core areas of business and management. And this, obviously, these are skills that you will need in relation to career advancement, growth, scaling your startup, if you are an entrepreneur. But not only that, you also get a very, very clearly developed career offering in terms of professional development.
You get one-to-one coaching throughout the two years of the program, but also for three years after the program. You get access to lifelong learning by being able to actually sit in two electives. Perhaps, there's a course that you decided not to take while you were doing the global MBA, but two years down the line, you're asked to go into mergers and acquisitions. And you would actually like to sit in to the mergers and acquisitions selective, you can do that.
So you get access to a global network of MBAs, alumni from different programs, in different geographical markets, and in very diverse industries. And you also get access to cutting edge thinkers, in terms of the academic staff on the program who do the latest research on different subjects and engage with you every Wednesday, typically, on the live webinars of your module. So you do get quite a lot, I think, from this program. It's not a program of scale, where it's predominantly asynchronous and you just plug in and out whenever you have the time. It needs real commitment, beyond the financial commitment, but you get a lot out of it, both from a knowledge point of view, from a network point of view, and in terms of professional development.
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